A brighter future for young people’s mental health starts now

To achieve the greatest progress, you need to take on the greatest challenges. So between 2017 and 2020, we’re investing £2.5m to transform what we know about the most critical mental health issues for young people today: depression and suicide. And we’re harnessing the power of data to find answers that could transform the way we understand, treat and prevent mental illness for all young people. It’s called our Brighter Futures programme and this is just the start.

Right now, depression is the biggest cause of disability worldwide. The condition often starts young, and can lead to a lifetime of suffering.

Right now, suicide is the second highest cause of death for young people – only accidents claim more lives.

Right now, a huge amount of data exists that can tell us about the health and lived-experience of mental illness for a young person. But the enormous potential of that data to create new understanding, new treatments, and improve access to services just isn’t being realised.

So we’re bringing together scientists from around the world to smash through our lack of knowledge in these three areas. We’re studying how mental illness develops, how we can identify which young people are most at risk, and how we can create better ways to treat and help young people.

And with your support, we believe progress isn’t just possible – it’s unstoppable.

Predicting and identifying depression sooner

What can research tell us about what causes depression? Which young people are most likely to experience this devastating condition? And how can we help people to identify it sooner?

We’re analysing information from across the globe – everything from brain scans to social research – to find the warning signs for depression in young people and develop ways that could help healthcare professions do more, quickly.

Finding the factors behind suicide

What are the social and biological factors that make young people more likely to attempt suicide? How do we know who is most at risk? And how can we help professional take action early and prevent suicide attempts?

We’re bringing together an unprecedented range of researchers from across the world to develop a new way of predicting which young people are most likely to consider and attempt suicide – offering hope for urgently needed improvements in clinical care and suicide prevention.

Unlocking the potential of data

What answers are lying unseen in data about young people in places like schools and GP surgeries? What might the signs of poor health have been before they became unwell? What was the impact on their education or employment. And how can it inspire new understanding and new treatments?